Internet Explorer will not open...

Hi. My neighbor's daughter is having problems with her computer. She has Windows 98SE, it is a Gateway and is probably about 4 years old. It has Internet Explorer 5.5 installed. Her problem is when she clicks on the icon to open Internet Explorer it opens to a message that say's, ''Windows Update Setup'', A previous installation has pending work requiring a reboot. You need to restart your computer to complete that installation before running Internet Explorer Setup. Setup will now close. Well we have rebooted and the same message comes up. I tried to do a repair through system toools, Internet Repair tool, but it is not there. Anybody ever hear of this problem.

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Hi all, Just wanted Thank everyone that wrote with suggestions. I used IERADICATOR and then went to the web site,http://browsers.evolt.org/ and everything worked out great, got IE again and seems to be doing good. Only problem now is what I think it has a virus, everytime the computer is booted up it comes up with this, Cannot find the file, "Load.EXE" (or one of its componets). Make sure the path and the filename are correct and that all required libraries are available. I have tried running AVG, and it still comes up, have to do more research.

''The Wininit.ini file contains destination paths and file names for the .dll files that are renamed and copied during a program installation or update. This method is used because some files cannot be copied if the file already exists in memory. Wininit.exe processes the Wininit.ini file when you restart the computer. If the Wininit.ini file contains incorrect information, or the renamed files have been deleted or moved, problems may occur during the restart or installation.''

1. Usually this type error is inherent only when a program has been installed or upgraded and I see nothing in your report stating otherwise.

2. First, check to see if the file mentioned in the opening paragraph exists.

3. Second, if it does exist, click Start, Shutdown, Restart in MS-DOS mode and from the DOS prompt, type the following commands pressing enter after each line completion:

wininit.exeexit

Note: If an invalid filename is given for line #1, you may have to preceded that name with the appropriate drive letter and path to the Windows folder.

Caveat: Even performing the action in #3 may be to no avail and even though the file ''Wininit.ini'' existed -- since you checked per #2 -- and it may still exists after completing #3, you checked again as instructed by #2 and the file is still there -- ''that file should be deleted once Windows has executed it if everything worked properly''. Now, if you know the file still exists after all that, either delete the file or rename it.

4. Restart the computer and reinstall the version of Internet Explorer wanted.

5. If all the above fail, perform the steps in the ''Resolutions'' section of this M$KB link.

2. If the Repair tool detects an error, e.g.: "Internet Explorer cannot be repaired. Please reinstall Internet Explorer" or one similar, we recommended that Internet Explorer be reinstalled.

Note: "Description of the Internet Explorer Repair Tool (Q194177)": Please note this article references just about every version of Internet Explorer and Operating Systems, but the steps/procedures are not exact. As far as I've been able to ascertain, there is no specific article concerning Internet Explorer v6 except for Windows XP.

Warning: Read the description of the apparent problem should the Details button be provided when an error pops up. You might receive the following types of explanations:

? Internet Explorer cannot be repaired due to the following errors: "File name" is missing

=or=

? Internet Explorer cannot be repaired due to the following errors: "Version 4.72.3110.0 of file name exists but needs to be greater than 6.0.20x.xxxx"

Note:The version number listed for a file is the minimum version required by Internet Explorer. If no version number is associated with a file, the Repair tool verifies the existence of the file but not its version. In many, many, instances, you can save yourself some effort perhaps by ascertaining whether an updated copy of the required file is readily available and restore it to the system without having to reinstall. See if you already own a copy of some Microsoft media from which it can be extracted. Please read this article, "Definition and Explanation of a .DLL file." Afterwards, determine whether the x.DLL file was issued by MS and you have a copy, then extract it. Access the DLL Help Database, enter the file name -- including extension in the space provided, and then press Enter. A list of issued DLL files will be rendered if it is a Microsoft issue (correct spelling and punctuation is recommended). If found, determine whether you have the necessary media available, and "Extract Original Compressed Windows Files (Q129605)." Be advised however, this process isn't going to do you any good if the stated dll files are not on your computer or on the media you have. Whether they may be found and downloaded from some certain Web site, I do not know. If all else fails, then uninstall Internet Explorer and then reinstall.

3. Are files available in the Windows\VCM folder if an in-place Setup for Windows was run?

a. The article [Q186157] describes the Version Conflict Manager tool (Vcmui.exe) included in Windows 98. During the installation of a new program (including Windows 98), files on a hard disk may be detected and replaced with older versions. If a newer version of a file is detected by Windows 98 Setup, a version conflict occurs. When Windows 98 is installed, newer files replaced by Windows 98 Setup are automatically backed up for compatibility purposes only if there are any -- the way I would want mine. The Version Conflict Manager tool lists all the backup files, the dates they were backed up, the version number of the backed up files, and the version number of the file currently in use.

b. The article [Q184585] discuss that when Windows Setup detects that a file already exists on a system newer than the one being installed, Setup replaces and automatically moves it to the Windows\VCM folder. If the Version Conflict Manager tool is used later to restore a file which was newer than the file installed by Windows Setup, the older default file is then moved to the Windows\VCM folder with a .000 file extension.

Warning: However, if multiple (more than one) files are restored at once to the system, the newest versions are properly restored, but the files which Setup actually installed (the default file) are not moved (switched) to the Windows\VCM folder -- something we probably don't care about anyway. To prevent this from occurring, restore files one at a time.

4. Search for the file, "Fixie.inf" which should be in the folder, C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer. If it is missing and you can acquire a copy, this may fix the unable to repair anomaly.

5. There may be files named, "Fix IE Log.txt" or "IE Setup Log.txt" which may be searched down and read. Either or both of these file may give further clues of the anomaly cause.